ASIC action against AustralianSuper reinforces urgent need for mandatory customer service standards

Super Consumers Australia says today’s ASIC court action against AustralianSuper for failures in handling death benefit claims reinforces the urgent need for mandatory customer service standards in superannuation.

ASIC’s alleging that Australia’s biggest super fund failed on an epic scale by delaying death benefit payments to the families of 6,897 members.

“The delays that ASIC has uncovered at AustralianSuper are yet another shocking example of why the Federal Government’s proposed mandatory member service standards cannot come quickly enough,” said Susan Quinn, Super Consumers Australia’s Director of Advocacy (Communications).

“Huge delays like the ones alleged at AustralianSuper hurt families who are already dealing with the trauma of losing a loved one.”

“Enough is enough. Australians trust our life savings with super funds, and deserve to be able to access the money they’re entitled to promptly. The complacency and lack of empathy from the super funds has to end now.” 

“We urge all parliamentarians to commit to mandatory service standards for super funds. Super is mandatory for our retirement savings, but good service isn’t mandatory. Clear, compulsory standards will make it very clear how long super funds have to process something like a death benefit payment, and how they should treat people along the way.”

“We’re encouraged that ASIC is holding super funds to account under the existing laws and testing out what ‘timeliness’ means in practice. Mandatory customer service standards, that meet community expectations, will build on this and give people clarity about what they can expect from their super fund.”

Regulators do not routinely collect data on customer service quality – which means there’s no ongoing transparency or comparison of how funds are performing. 

“People have no idea which funds are better than others when it comes to customer service. It’s a crucial function and we’re in the dark as to how they’re performing. We’re calling on APRA and ASIC to expand their data collection to shine a light on which funds need to step up for their members.”

“Mandatory standards plus public accountability are the only way to stop the distressing experiences we keep hearing about.”